Who's more liable?

[ebow]

Several weeks ago a man and his dog was attacked and bitten by a stray pit bull. Local police and animal control were involved. The owner was found and rather than impound the dog as required, the police returned the dog to it's owner.
Two days later this same dog got loose again and as I was attempting to unchain me small dog in my backyard both my dog and I were attacked and biten. It took 3 calls before police and or animal control agreed to respond. At the time police said they did not know the dog nor the owner, but held it for animal control to take for quarantine. I took a digital picture of the dog and for 2 days canvassed the neighborhood attempting to find the owner. I found the owner and I think they will pay vet bills without legal action. MY QUESTION: Do I have a case against the city because of there not impounding the dog 2 days prior when they had the dog because of the same type incident??

I believe, had the police acted properly the first time, my attack would not have happened.

Thank You for any opinion/advice.

 

[JETX]

In my opinion, if you have a civil case against the city, it would be hard to do. Most municipalities and cities are protected to a certain extent by local statutes. You would probably have to show gross negligence (meaning that the cities purposeful failure to perform was a cause of your injuries). Further, most cities have a set procedure in place BEFORE any civil action can be filed (for example, Houston requires 30 day prior notice, possible presentation before the city council, etc.).

My suggestion would be to consider action against the dog owner. Due to the dogs prior act, the owner was aware that his/her dog was violent and had an increased responsibility to control the animal. Most states also have a strict owner liability for failure to control an animal, much less a shown violent one. I would seriously consider taking action against the dog owner (and/or their insurance policy) to recover your damages, plus pain, suffering and possible future scarring, etc.